“Ghost Story”
24″ h x 30″ w, flushmount (signed and numbered verso, 10/150) (2007)
Xavier Nuez is a fine art photographer with a long running series exploring urban “alleys and ruins.” This image is #100 in that series, taken in the West Bottoms neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, and was actually featured on the cover of an issue of Professional Artist magazine. It would be a bit on the nose to describe a picture titled “Ghost Story” as “haunting”, but the eye sees what it sees. The glowing reds and eerie greens stand out against a ghostly blue tint that make the image feel less alive than necromantic. Though this is a photograph and so in that sense is “real” in a way a painting or a print isn’t, it nonetheless has a fantastical vibe that merges beautifully with my general fondness for city scenes.
“Ghost Story” also carries the distinction of being the very first piece of thrift store art I ever purchased. I give browsing thrift stores a lot of credit for developing my eye as an art collector — it’s a great way to see a veritable firehose of different art quickly and it comes with a lot less pressure than purchasing at a major gallery or auction. Quite a few of my favorite artists, and my stylistic interests more broadly, have emerged directly or indirectly from work I’ve originally found at a thrift store. At the same time, periodically buying thrift store art keeps one humble. Sure, it’s always exciting to think one found some hidden masterpiece buried in a corner, but the real value of thrift store art is to remind oneself that art should be about what one likes, not about the label or the price tag.
David Schraub 